Cardinals Defense

Fantasy Football Outlook: While it was probably time for Ken Wisenhunt to go, I’m disappointed Arizona didn’t hold onto defensive coordinator Ray Horton. Coming over from the Steelers Horton seemed to bring more of a physical and attacking brand of football to the desert, and that was one of the bright points of this franchise over recent years.

While things will improve on the offensive side of the ball, I can’t say the same for the defense. Star linebacker Daryl Washington could be in some big trouble after he was arrested in suspicion for beating up his ex-girlfriend whom he has a child with.

Before that news, Washington was suspended for the first four games of the season for drugs. Not good, but the team responded by bringing back Karlos Dansby and while teams stayed away from giving him a multi-year deal (31 years old) his game is still solid and he was one of the teams best players before going to Miami.

The Cardinals will have a good defense, but the NFC West is probably the hardest division in football and the Seahawks, 49ers and Rams are only getting better on offense. It will be hard to start the Cardinals defense when they play division games, so look to them as a matchup play off the waiver wire.

It can be a real challenge to stay up to date with all the changes on a particular NFL teams’ defense. Key losses or gains because of contract changes, trade or injury can create a dramatic effect to a defense’s success and thus their fantasy value for your fantasy football team. Stay up to date with the note worthy changes right here with personalized fantasy pages for each NFL defense.

To help you get ready for draft day you will notice articles for ADP advice, cheat sheets, mock drafts and projected stats for the Cardinals team defense here. During the season, you can also find regular weekly ranking articles at this section as well.

Welcome to the Cardinals team defense fantasy football outlook archive. At this section of the defenses player page you will notice our past thoughts and advice for fantasy football.

Summer of 2012: Fantasy Projections

Defensive coordinator Ray Horton came over from Pittsburgh last year, and his squad clearly struggled with a lockout shortened offseason. Factor in that star corner Patrick Peterson was at the begging of his career, and it’s understandable why this group had so many problems.

Fast forward to the end of the year and it was a different story as Peterson had evolved into a shutdown corner, playing man coverage without help against the opponent’s top receiver.

This helped the defense shift and extra man to help out on the other side of the field, and changed the defense. Quickly, the Cardinals became a force, and that trend should continue this year.

I’m not in love with the Cardinals safeties, and they will get burned on deep routes at times, but overall this is a sleeper defense. Current ADP trends have the Cardinals failing to make the top 15 off the board, and all that means is you have an upside defense sitting out there for nothing.

Summer of 2011: Fantasy Projections

With DRC moving onto the Eagles, I’m concerned about the Cardinals secondary and they’ve fallen out of favor in my mind as an option to consider as a backup if you normally hold two defenses. Look to the Cardinals as a defense that should get stronger as the season moves along, but they are just a matchup play defense this year.

Sacks

Int’s

Fumbles

Avg PA

2011 Projected Stats

30

21

15

25.2

June 2011

If rookie corner back Patrick Peterson can live up to the hype the Cardinals will have quite a tandem at corner as he teams up with Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on the other side. Now the Cardkinas defense needs help from their offense to eat up time on the clock and keep them in the lead, for more opportunities for sacks and turnovers.

It helps the Cardinals that they play in the weakest division in football and if they land a legit quarterback I expect them to win the West this season. Don’t look to the Cardinals as a draft-able defense this summer but they might be useful in the season and especially when the play the Seahawks and maybe 49ers this year.

2010 Preview

The Cardinals have lost a few key players on offense and defense this offseason. While management did a good job in replacing safety Antrel Rolle with Kerry Rhodes, they will still have a hard time replacing linebacker Karlos Dansby. Bertrand Berry’s retirement will also hurt in the leadership category.

2010 Fantasy Football Outlook

2009 Fantasy Year In Review: The Cardinals’ defense continued to improve off of their success from the year before. For the season, they had a solid 43 sacks and improved their numbers in many categories. Still, this group wasn’t good enough to be trusted most weeks for fantasy as they had an average amount of turnovers and at times were shaky.

2010 NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings: This offseason has seen more worse than good for this group as they’ve lost key veterans. Linebacker Karlos Dansby went to the Dolphins, safety Antrel Rolle moved on to the Giants and veteran leader Bertrand Berry retired.

We also have to find out if Matt Leinart can play at an effective level this year as he is taking over for the now retired Kurt Warner. If the offense isn’t giving this team solid leads they may have to be on the field longer in games and may not play with as much aggressiveness.

This makes the acquisitions of Joey Porter and Kerry Rhodes very important as they need to play well. Rookie additions of NT Dan Williams and LB Daryl Washington need to pay off as they will need them to produce at some point.

Put it all together and the Cardinals may be set up for a year of growing pains as they coach up some of their new players. Don’t draft the Cardinals this season, unless you normally grab two defenses in your league.

Assets

- Good Coaching

- Talented Secondary

- Sacks

Liabilities

- Turnover May Hurt This Team (Loss Of Leadership)

- Not The Greatest Team In Yards Allowed

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